About

CA$ 231,803

pledged of CA$ 75,000 goal

464

backers

We’ve seen 3D printers become easier to use, more affordable, and more accessible; but the range of objects they can create has remained the same. No one has taken these printers to the next level... until now.

The Palette lets you build an unprecedented range of creations on the 3D printer you already own. The ability to print with up to four colours, or materials with different properties, lets your printer move beyond creating simple, single colour plastic objects.

Bring your printer into the future with The Palette.

The Palette was designed from the ground up for the 3D printing community, it was engineered with simplicity in mind.

If you can use a 3D printer, you can build high quality colour creations with The Palette.

You can skip the upgrade cycle of buying an expensive printer, keep using your favourite slicer, and use whatever filament supplier you want!

The Palette isn’t limited to colour; you can add in many of today’s exotic filaments, like Conductive, Carbon Fiber Infused, Stainless Steel Infused and Woodfill, just to name a few.

This gear is a composite structure made from clear PLA and carbon fiber reinforced filament, meant to illustrate the potential for composites in 3D printing.

The top of this nametag was created with bronze infused filament so it looks and feels like metal. On the back of the nametag there is a bar made from magnetic filament allowing it to work as a magnetic nametag.

This light switch cover has glow in the dark features to help you find it at night.

Did you know coasters can be smart? When a hot item is placed on this one, it tells you so. This was printed using different PLA’s as well as thermochromatic filament.

3D printing is about the communication of ideas. This communication is restricted by the single colour limitation our machines are faced with today.

Removing this single colour limitation lets you increase the communication potential of your printer, and lets you truly bring your imagination into the three dimensional world.

FDM 3D printers run off of plastic filament, the colour of your filament determines the colour of your object.

The Palette takes in four filament inputs and combines them together into a single filament output!

Everything is done automatically, from the order of the filaments, to their exact length, to make sure every colour shows up exactly where it should!

All you have to do is go through the simple setup sequence and print like you normally would!

If your printer uses open 1.75mm filament, has access to the filament feed, and runs on .gcode or .x3g then you can unleash it's true potential with The Palette.

The Palette requires no modifications, wiring, or hardware changes to your printer. Because of this, it's compatible with a wide range of printers!

Check out the F.A.Q. for full details on compatibility, as well as how you can test your printer!

The Palette lets you continue to use your favourite modeling and slicer programs!

Design in your current modeling program

Process with your favourite slicer

You then run the output through our application. Our app gives you the modified .gcode/.x3g file for your printer and the .SEEM file for The Palette!

We're open sourcing all of our software and firmware so you can add in any features you'd like to see!

Below are a few features our backers have already dreamed up:

Printing isn't a perfect science, so we created a feedback loop to ensure The Palette and your printer are always on the same page. Mosaic's app inputs a series of checkpoints into the .gcode/.x3g file.

The Palette reads these checkpoints, and if the buffer is shifting, the Palette makes adjustments to the upcoming lengths of filament to ensure every piece of filament goes back to being perfectly synced!

Add $60 CAD to your pledge if you want to order 4 Filament Storage Modules.

Add $125 CAD to your pledge for 4 KGs of filament (a survey will be sent out for colour selection after the campaign ends).

Our team has lived and breathed colour 3D printing for the past year now. We’ve gone from ideas on a white board, to a fully functioning aesthetic prototype.

Now we need your help to bring it to production. The money we raise on Kickstarter will go straight towards delivering you the best product possible, as quickly as possible.

Proudly Canadian: Design, Assembly, and Quality Control completed in Canada

Press Contact: press@mosaicmanufacturing.com

The Palette would not exist if it wasn’t for our huge support network. We’d like to take a second to thank everyone who’s been following our email updates for the past six months. Without you this project never would have come into existence.

A huge thank you to the Queen’s Innovation Connector, FounderFuel, The National Research Council of Canada, and LaunchLab for their continued support.

Finally, to our friends and family who have supported us every step of the way.

A special thank you to all of the designers who created models featured in this campaign:

Risks and challenges

Over the past year the team at Mosaic has encountered numerous challenges as we worked to develop The Palette and the company that would make it a reality. As we move forward with the fulfillment of the rewards we understand there are many associated risks and unforeseen challenges that will arise. There are a few areas that we have identified as having elevated risk, and wanted to share the plans we have in place to deal with them.

SUPPLY CHAIN
Building a reliable supply chain is something we have focused on from very early on in the development of The Palette. We started by making the decision to source components from industrial component suppliers right after we hit the proof of concept stage with our prototype. This meant that we started using the same components we would one day ship in The Palette. Because this was done early in the development process we have developed strong relationships with our suppliers. For almost every component, we ordered similar ones from different suppliers to check the relative quality of the parts, as well as the reliability of each source. We then followed up by making orders by the hundreds and getting personal references to ensure we could be confident about building a given supplier into our supply chain. We have advisors with experience in this space, which has proved invaluable in helping us in building a strong foundation. As we move towards fulfillment we will continue to test various aspects of our supply chain and will ensure we have at least one backup supplier for every component and service.

MATERIAL OPTIMIZATION
We believe that having a proof of concept and renders of what the final product would look like was not enough to come to Kickstarter. The process of turning a prototype into a production ready product is not an easy, or predictable task, and can often lead to unexpected costs and delays. To avoid this we set our sights on having pre-production units ready before we launched, made with the same components and manufacturing methods that will be used during production wherever possible. Although we have come most of the way, there are still a few areas where final optimization needs to occur. One example is for some of the internal structure components of the Palette. We have opted to use laser cut PMMA up until now, and are currently in the process of replacing these components with sheet metal. We have completed this transition for the external components of The Palette with the help from a manufacturing partner, and are confident we will be able to work together to transition the internal components in the same manner.

ASSEMBLY AND QUALITY CONTROL
We recognize that going from a handful of units to hundreds, or thousands, while maintaining the same quality standards we were able to achieve when building each by hand is going to be a very difficult task. With a new product, loaded with a new technology inside of it, there will be a lot of learning and optimizing along the way. Pulling from the experience of our advisors who have gone through the process in the past we identified that assembling units here in Canada would lead to the highest quality output, and could be done at a reasonable cost if the right planning was done ahead of time. With this in mind from early on, The Palette has been designed to be highly modular consisting of many discrete off the shelf components and custom sub-assemblies. This makes it practical to complete final assembly in-house as it requires light assembly and electronics termination. We are developing a production team who will come on board well before production begins to become well acquainted with The Palette. The Palettes will be assembled through a batch assembly operation that, when optimized, will allow for substantial throughput. Working with experienced advisors who have set up similar operations in Canada we believe this will lead to the highest consistent output quality possible. When problems arise on the production floor, we will be able to address them within hours, not needing to hop on a plane.

The QC process has been designed to take place in line with the assembly process. We will leverage the sensory systems built into the Palette, as well as external testing rigs, and overall system tests to ensure each system and subsystem has been checked multiple times. Before each Palette is shipped it will run through a “torture test” that it will need to pass in order to move to packaging. These steps will increase the overall processing time but are necessary to ensure the quality of each unit is up to our standards.

We look forward to developing a relationship with our backers and welcoming you into the Mosaic family. We value two way communication and pledge to do our part to keep you updated on challenges and milestones so that you always know what we are up to. There is no question that we will have our fair share of challenges ahead of us but we are confident that we have the right team, support network, and community alongside us to execute on our plans. We can’t wait to get the power of the Palette in your hands and to see what you will create with it.

Support

Select this reward

Pledge CA$ 5 or more
About US$ 4

Mosaic's Wall of Fame: We will include your name on the home page of our website after this campaign ends! You also get the inside scoop of what's happening behind the scenes with The Palette's production

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge CA$ 15 or more
About $11

Collectible Keychain - A keychain of the Mosaic Logo made up of three colours, and outlined in carbon fiber infused filament! Be one of the first to get your hands on a high quality multi-filament print! You'll also become part of Mosaic's Wall of Fame!